Simon Says…

Our good friend Simon South returns with some more insights into his life as a magician and freak show performer. Take it away, Si!

Hello guys and welcome again to more rambling on my job as a magician and a freak show performer. The wonderful Wayne Simmons asked me to write for his blog last year and I unfortunately got too busy to carry it on, hence why I am here, writing again for all you lovely people in my 2 week break.

So, so far my 2 weeks have been quite eventful: I have split up with my girlfriend (Boo!) Worked on a new act to be performed in Lancaster at the Dalton rooms (Yay!) and just having a bit of me time (which doesn’t happen often).

When it comes to Freak Performances, they have unfortunately been on the decrease. I am being asked more and more to perform actual magic as apposed to the Freak performances. I don’t mean Wican stuff when I say actual magic you understand; I mean stuff with silks and floating balls and so forth. However, I am determined to make my mark with my own unique take on a few tricks….

I have discovered that currently I am a very aggressive type of performer. I am very up front with my volunteers and I do not want to lose this aggression as it fuels a lot of what makes me… well… me on the stage. My new act is silent, which is odd for me as it is more beautiful than aggressive. I am taking a different direction with my magic to see what the reaction may be. For those of you with some magical knowledge, I am performing the Gypsy Thread (broken and restored thread) Zombie Ball (floating ball) and Snowstorm in China (err….hard to describe. Youtube it) Also baring in mind that I am performing this entirely new routine the day before my birthday, and performing my old silent routine actually on my birthday, it is becoming a tough task to remember what is old and what is new. I need to practice both the old to keep it fresh and the new to make sure I know exactly what is going on. The plan is to actually combine both acts together at some point.

There’s also my new one man show for Edinburgh: That’s right guys, your humble magic man is going to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year for ten days. The show is called: Simon South’s Catflap of Opportunity. So far it is tricky combining everything (I am also organizing a press release down in London for the Queens Jubilee. I shall be swallowing a balloon in front of Buckingham Palace to celebrate it. Hope the Queen is looking out of the window when I do it!)

All in all I am being kept busy, but more money is going out than in at the moment as it is being piled into affording Edinburgh and new equipment for my acts. This worries me, but I am an optimist and so I am sure that things will pick up.